The quotable voice

"This is a relatively inexpensive vacation compared, say, to Paris. Every indication, so far, is that we will see more Europeans coming here. Their currencies are doing well against the dollar."

"This is a relatively inexpensive vacation compared, say, to Paris. Every indication, so far, is that we will see more Europeans coming here. Their currencies are doing well against the dollar."

— Michael Glasfeld, president of New England Fast Ferry, on the influx of European tourists.

"Does each town need its own assessing? Its own school superintendent? Its own administrator? Its own police and fire chiefs? I'm not singling departments out. But is there a better way to deliver services? The answer may be no. But the answer might be yes."

— Finance Committee Chairman Roger Cabral on how Acushnet does town business.

"In my 13 years of feeding families this is the worst year, economically, I've ever seen."

— William Shell, coordinator of the United Way of Greater New Bedford's Hunger Commission program, which provides food to local emergency feeding programs.

"The South Main Street corridor between Exit 9 and the Fall River line is, in some ways, a perfect storm where a whole bunch of things are coming together."

— SRPEDD director Stephen Smith stressing the need for controlled development and planning in Assonet.

"Initially it was open from November through March, but because of the economy we've decided to run it year-round."

— Chrissy Tomkiewicz, director of A Helping Paw Pet Food Pantry in Wareham on the increasingly hard time pet owners are having feeding their pets.

"We took a baseball field that was there. We sought to maintain recreational space."

— New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang, reacting to a City Council move to shut down Ben Rose Field from recreational use that council members said violates a master plan for the area.

"When you have boarded-up homes, it's inviting problems. Now people know the house is empty. It's ripe for vandalism."

— Ken Resendes, president of the Bullard Street Neighborhood Association, responding to the wave of home foreclosures that has engulfed New Bedford and the region as a whole.

"I went in to find out what was wrong with Alex and what we needed to do to fix it. I went in there with my pad and pencil, the business person. They told us he had SMA. They also told us that most of these children don't live too long. I was a mess. After they tell you that your baby is going to die, there is no writing anything down."

— Jenessa Pateakos of Marion, talking about the diagnosis of her then-infant son Alex with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disease.

"We have had five boats sink this winter and we didn't lose one person."

— Rodney Avila, a Coast Guard safety instructor and former New Bedford fisherman, speaking about safety training workshops and in support of a bill passed by the House concerning fishing safety measures.

"It's really devastating what is happening right now ... We're trying to reach people and encourage anyone with adjustable mortgages to seek out help before it resets."

— Patrick J. Sullivan, New Bedford's director of Housing and Community Development concerning the recent spike in foreclosures.